The way you encouraged your youth to attend Steubenville conference this summer – from the charming pleas to your parish after Mass to nagging your students in person during Open Office – you did it, you made it happen. Thank you.

The way you figured out the hassle of finances, fundraisers, transportation, chaperones, rooming lists, compliance requirements, and registration – you did it. Thank you.

The way you gave into wearing matching shirts with your teenagers – you did it, and you look great. Thank you.

The way you pray with and for these teens through their highs and lows of life. You are Christ’s hands and feet – you are doing it with such love and grace; you are such a gift to them. Thank you.

The way you eat pizza for 50% of your meals with a smile – you’re doing the Lord’s work, my friend. Thank you.

Marilyn from LEAD is a member of Immaculate Conception of Dardenne (ICD) Parish in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. She went to high school at Timberland High School in Wentzville, MO and this fall she will be a freshman at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Tonight she shared with us how she has experienced the love of God through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

As a high school student, she went on a retreat with her parish, and while there she was filled with deep sorrow for her sins. She decided to go to Confession and felt a huge embrace from God – like a hug.

Lisa Cotter shared her heart with us this evening as she told her testimony of finding where she belonged. She began by visiting her teen years and telling us of a “Jesus filled” Spring Break trip she took where she never quite felt like she belonged. Like many of us, she found herself asking “Where do I fit in? Do I belong here?” Upon coming home she found herself living in two separate worlds – her Friday night party world and her Sunday night youth group world. Two competing worlds which again left her asking “Where do I fit in?”